John Brickell

From Ohio History Central

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John Brickell was captured by the Delaware Indians when he was ten and lived among them for four years.

He was born in western Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, in 1781. On a trip to Pittsburgh, the ten-year-old Brickell was captured by the Delaware Indians and adopted into an Indian family. His new family moved to a village located on the Maumee River. Brickell was with the Delaware for four years until his release in 1795. In the Treaty of Greeneville, the Delawares and other Indian tribes in the Northwest Territory agreed to release all white hostages. Brickell received his freedom but continued to live as a Native American.

Upon his release, Brickell settled on the Scioto River near present-day Columbus. Many people view Brickell as the first white settler of Columbus. His home was along the east bank of the Scioto River near the grounds of what would become the Ohio Penitentiary. He remained in central Ohio until his death in 1844.